Coffee Shop Love
by StrawberryofLife
Summary: The first in a series of one-shots based off of prompts you guys can leave in the reviews. :) Percy and Annabeth meet at a coffee shop. Short. Fluffy. Rated T for bad language. Cover art by Viria13.
1. Chapter 1: Coffee Shop Love

**A/N: I have tried, so many times, to write a full-length fic. But every time I've lost inspiration and deleted it a few chapters in. That's why, instead of being super ambitious, I'm going to take it slowly. Write a series of one-shots. Fluffy, most likely. (LEAVE PROMPTS IN A REVIEW! - AU or non-AU, doesn't matter!) Then maybe progress to short fics, ten chapters. I'll try to progress from there.**

 **I'm sorry. I truly am.**

 **As for the following one-shot, I think it's a little fluffy - I'm still getting better at writing fluff, so no promises, but it's just a little coffee shop love. ;)**

 **WARNING: language**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own. Do not sue. Thanks. :)**

Percy Jackson hated blind dates. For one thing, he didn't have time for dates. He was attempting to graduate law school (attempting being the key word) and attempting to graduate meant writing hundred-paged essays, memorizing flashcards, and reading books with titles like " _Florida's Third District Court Appeal_ ".

And then, of course, there was _this_ simple fact: 99% of all blind dates are destined to fail. Technically that wasn't a fact, though. Technically it was just Jason – his law school roomie – warning him not to go on the blind date. It appeared Jason had been on a lot of failed blind dates.

But here Percy was, sitting at a table in a quaint little coffee shop, waiting for his date and slowly coming to the realization that he was being stood up. He checked his watch. Exactly an hour had passed since his date was supposed to show and there was no sign of her at all.

He took a sip of the, now cold, coffee. The door jingled and Percy looked towards it, hoping that she was just late. Maybe there had been a huge traffic jam. Even the baristas, who by this time had figured out that Percy was waiting for a date, were looking at him with big, sad eyes. In his haze to look at the door (it wasn't his date, Percy realized with the sinking of his shoulders, she was supposed to have this pink sweater and big blue purse and this girl definitely had neither) Percy managed to somehow knock his mostly-empty cup of coffee onto his expensive paid-for-by-his-estranged-father pants.

"SHIT!" he exclaimed, grabbing as many napkins as he could, trying to get out the brown stains.

A barista ran over to his table with more napkins and together they mopped up the mess. There was still an ugly brown stain on his pants, but Percy was sure that his father would be more than happy to pay the dry cleaning bill, especially after their last meeting on Percy's school campus.

While they were on their hands and knees scrubbing the floor of the brown liquid, the two connected eyes…for just a moment. But it was enough for Percy to get a good look at her eyes, which were a stormy grey. The lights flickered, slightly, overhead, but reflected in her eyes it was like lightning in a terrible storm. But they weren't gloomy or dreary—not at all. In fact they were the opposite, sharp. Intelligent. With a hint of flirtatious cunning.

He paused, in cleaning the mess up, to soak in her full appearance. Blonde curls surrounded her pink-cheeked face like a halo. She was gorgeous, in the most nonchalant way imaginable. Percy wondered if she had a boyfriend.

The barista got up to throw away her wad of coffee filled napkins and threw away Percy's in the process.

"I'm sorry about your coffee, but you should really pay more attention," the barista said. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the other baristas giving this girl a sharp look.

"Next time, I will," Percy said, grinning.

"So you're coming back," the girl said. A smile crept across her soft features. Percy looked for a name tag, but either she didn't have a name or she had lost the tag, because she didn't have one—unlike all the other baristas in the shop.

"Now I am," Percy said, making an obvious effort to look the barista up in down.

"Well that's a bit rude. You don't even know my name," the barista said. But Percy could swear he had seen a blush, however small.

"Tell me. Your name."

The barista smiled.

"Annabeth Chase." She held out a hand.

"Percy Jackson." He took it.

 **A/N: So I hope you liked it - I enjoyed writing it. I felt like I wasn't under very much pressure, if that makes any sense. I tried to be light and fluffy, but honestly descriptive stuff is more my forte, so I want to see how you guys liked it. REVIEWS ARE APPRECIATED LOADS!**

 **And, please, please, please leave a review with a prompt for another set of one-shots or two-shots. PLEEEEEAAASE?**

 **Have a great day!**

 **xx**

 **StrawberryofLife**


	2. Chapter 2: Glorified Roasted Chicken

**A/N: Honestly, writing canon Percabeth is harder than I imagined. I feel kind of pressured to live up to Rick Riordan's Percabeth standard (something I could never do) and so I'm not really sure if this is any good at all. Constructive criticism is always helpful, though!**

 **I'd like to thank 'ForTheLoveOfPeanutButter' for this prompt. It's not EXACTLY the same as the prompt, but it's the same concept: Percabeth double date with Annabeth's parents.**

 **I'd also like to thank everyone that reviewed, followed, and favourited. It really made my day! :D**

 **P.S. I'M ACTUALLY UPDATING! :D**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own, probably never will. :(**

"Pass the potatoes," Annabeth said, trying to avoid conversation. Frederick (who insisted Annabeth should call him Dad) passed Annabeth the mashed potatoes in a little ceramic orange-and-green bowl Helen had bought from the store the other day. Annabeth thought it looked kind of stupid, with little dancing carrots and broccoli decorating the sides of the bowl, but who was Annabeth to judge a _ceramic bowl_?

Annabeth wasn't really sure how she'd gotten roped into a double date at her father's house (with her father and step-mother, no less), but here she was, chewing glorified roasted chicken that her father called "délicieux, le poulet juteux avec le peau croustillante" which was "delicious, juicy chicken with crispy skin" google-translated into French. But _of course_ her father insisted they all had to call his glorified roasted chicken by its French name, which inevitably led to many failed attempts of saying this uber-long French sentence by Percy.

"DELICIOUS LE POO-LET JU-TUX A-VEK LA PEW CRUST-ZILLANT-AY" were among many of Percy's attempts.

Helen (Annabeth's step-mom) thought the chicken was absolutely lovely, of course—"best chicken I've ever tasted, honey!"—but to Annabeth it tasted rather like pre-roasted chicken from the supermarket. And, the more she thought about it, the more she thought that it _was_ pre-roasted chicken from the local grocery store.

There hadn't been much conversation for the first five minutes of dinner, not until Frederick finally spoke up.

Turning to face Percy, he said, "Tell me about your sex life." Percy froze mid-chew and turned very red in the face. Annabeth, too, found herself going slightly pink.

"DAD." She said, very embarrassed.

"Fred…" Helen warned at the same time. Annabeth exchanged looks of gratitude with Helen. There was silence for another few minutes, where only the clinking sound of silverware and chewing sounds were heard.

"How's the weather in New York?" Frederick tried again.

"The weather's been kind of gloomy," Annabeth rushed to answer, before Frederick could change his mind and ask something else of equal or greater awkwardness than his original question.

"That's a shame," Frederick offered, cutting a slice of chicken and popping it into his mouth. He chewed slowly and quietly.

"Well, it's given us time to start decorating our apartment," Percy said, swiping a spoonful of mashed potatoes from Annabeth's plate. Annabeth, in turn, swiped a piece of chicken off of Percy's plate and Helen gave both young adults stern, you-are-adults-so-what-are-you-doing-looks.

"Apartment?" Frederick looked between his daughter and Percy, bewildered. Slow realization crept across his face and, strangely enough, Annabeth felt a trickle of guilt as his face fell. She quickly brushed aside the guilt, though, because Frederick had sprung _Helen's_ moving-in on her when she had been quite young. He later claimed that he hadn't thought Annabeth would "understand," but it had sure been a surprise when Frederick had come home one day with a strange woman Annabeth had only seen once or twice and introduced her as his girlfriend.

There was silence for the rest of the meal. When Percy later attempted to start conversation, he was silenced by sharp looks from the three other people sitting at the dinner table. When the meal was finally over (it had been a long, torturous time for Annabeth), Annabeth attempted to be polite and thank her…parents for the meal.

"Thanks, uh, Frederick." This time Frederick didn't even insist she call him 'Dad'. Instead he just said, "Anytime, Annabeth, anytime." But he wouldn't make eye contact with Annabeth, leading her to believe she had angered him by springing the moving-in with Percy.

Percy thanked both of the hosts and the two left the Chase household.

"Well that was…" Percy began, but Annabeth shushed him.

"At least he didn't yell," Percy tried again. Annabeth just ignored Percy and focused her eyes on the road.

She was sad her family had come to this, silent dinner parties where she and her father couldn't even act as if they held a friendship together, let alone a familial bond. She sighed and watched as the Chase household disappeared behind them. She wondered if she would ever come back.

And then a lonely little tear slid down her cheek, because, deep down, she knew she wouldn't.

 **A/N: So I hope it lived up to all of your standards, because I'm really unsure of this one-shot. Is it too sappy? Not enough dialogue? Not enough action? I wasn't sure if I should have this big, blowout fight between Annabeth and her dad or if they should just kiss and make up, but in the end I figured that Annabeth is really just kind of uncomfortable with this double date dinner. And I figured Frederick wouldn't be one to start or add fire to an argument. At least that's my take on the Chases. As for Bobby & Matthew, I figure they're off somewhere at a friend's or something. And let's just pretend that this is in the future, after the books, where Annabeth & Percy aren't saving the world as much anymore and they're living in an apartment in New York, near Camp Half-Blood but not AT Camp Half-Blood, because due to the Gods' promise of claiming kids before they turn thirteen, there had been an influx in demigods, so there isn't enough space.**

 **Let's just pretend all of that happened.**

 **xx**

 **StrawberryofLife**


	3. Chapter 3: The New Girl

**A/N: TWO UPDATES IN ONE DAY- I'M ON A ROLL! So I probably won't be able to keep this up - especially with school in the Fall and I'm going on holiday tomorrow, but I'll do my best.**

 **I'd like to ask for more prompts, please, because they allow me to write outside my comfort zone to help me become a better writer, for fun, etc., etc.**

 **But thanks, once again, for all the support! YOU, reading this, yes YOU, are awesome. :D**

 **Disclaimer: I doubt RR will be reading this in order for me to put a disclaimer, but - just in case ;) - I don't own any of the PJO characters!**

 **WARNING: language & this is an AU **

When the new girl had first transferred halfway through the school year from some posh school in San Francisco, Percy hadn't even bothered to learn her name. But he'd found it out anyways, because she was _always_ being called on in class. Always, always.

She was always raising her hand, and even when she got the answer wrong (in front of the whole class) she didn't falter or blush, just awaited the correct answer with a calm demeanor. And then slowly, throughout the school year, he began to develop a crush on Annabeth, the girl he never talked to. He avoided her in the hallways, because the crush had developed so far that every time he saw those familiar blonde curls, he turned very pink in the face. Like, _bright_ pink. A pink so shockingly pink, even the art teacher, in classroom 5A, would go "Whoa! I've never seen such a pigmented pink before!"

And Percy was _just_ building up the confidence to talk to her, when everyone just _left_ for summer. And then, at first, he thought _yes, I'm free from turning shockingly pink._ But then he started to _dream_ about her. And they were embarrassing, never-ever-share-even-with-your-closest-friends dreams, too.

Then school started again and Percy was looking forward to seeing her again. To actually _talking_ to her, this time around. But she was gone. She wasn't in any classes, or on the attendance sheet. She had just _disappeared._ So he tried talking to her friends, but all they said was 'she moved to California'. And _that_ didn't really help, because he needed to talk to her.

Finally he saw her again. At an ice cream parlor with a group of her friends. And they were all laughing and eating ice cream and enjoying themselves. He wanted to go talk to her, but she was busy. With her friends. So he waited, almost creepily, until only Annabeth was left. And then he talked to her.

And it didn't take very long until he realized he was _flirting_ with her. And he tried to stop, because they were just supposed to become friends first. She hadn't even _noticed_ him last year, despite being captain of the swim team and all. So then he was just silent. And it was awkward. And he was getting up to leave, when Annabeth asked him to wait. And so he waited. And then she was there, kissing him. And he kissed back and it turned out she, _too,_ had had a crush on him during that school year and she, _too,_ hadn't had the confidence to even talk to him.

And then they laughed. And they hugged. And they _kissed,_ because Annabeth was a damn good kisser, but then she had to go back to California, because that's where her parents lived and so, by relation, that's where she lived.

So they said goodbye. And promised to write. And call. And get together someday down the line.

Because now his crush had developed into love.

And so had hers.

 **A/N: Aww... okay, how did you like it? Good, hopefully? It may be riddled with tons of grammatical errors, so I do apologize for that.**

 **Once again, thanks for following, favouriting and reviewing, it really makes my day... :D**

 **PROMPTS, PLEASE?**

 **xx**

 **StrawberryofLife**


	4. Chapter 4: How I Met Your Father

**A/N: Hey, guys! Firstly, thanks so much for reviewing, favouriting, and following. I wish I could give you all cupcakes, but, sadly, we don't have the technology for that kind of thing yet. :(**

 **Secondly, I'm not really sure about this one-shot - although, when am I super sure about a one-shot? I have another one-shot in the editing/revising process and yet ANOTHER one-shot in the writing stage, so expect updates soon.**

 **This wasn't a prompt, but I thought it was kind of a cute sort of spin-off of "How I Met Your Mother".**

 **PROMPTS APPRECIATED!**

 **Disclaimer: Do not own, do not sue. ;)**

"Ow." Annabeth said, sitting up. Her head was fuzzy, but—more importantly—it hurt. Like _hell._ She couldn't remember what had happened last night, but she was pretty sure she'd gotten drunk at some point, because she was pretty sure what felt like someone repeatedly stabbing her brain, was really just a really bad hangover. Like, _really_ bad.

At least she was in her own bed. She was in her normal pajamas, too. Maybe Piper had dropped her off at home? But she didn't see Piper's signature you-were-hungover-last-night-and-here's-what-happened note by her bedside table, so it seemed that she had gotten home of her own accord. Unless…

Annabeth jumped up and walked into her apartment's tiny living room where, on the couch, a strange man was sleeping. He was kind of cute, with tousled black hair and muscular arms peeking out from a white t-shirt. She inspected him for a moment. He was using her spare Piper-your-sleeping-over-because-I-need-to-talk-to-someone-who-understands-me blanket and he was snoring peacefully.

So, naturally, Annabeth had to wake him.

"Whaaa…" the man began. He stopped abruptly, when he realized he was in someone else's home.

"Who are you?" he asked, his eyes examining her, almost critically. It made Annabeth feel oddly self-conscious, an emotion she hadn't really felt since she had had acne and hair had started growing in her armpits.

His eyes were a beautiful bright green, like a beautiful ocean in paradise. Annabeth just stared at his eyes, until the man cleared his throat in order to get her attention.

"Sorry," Annabeth said, trying to make her voice sound better than she felt, "I'm Annabeth Chase, proud owner of this apartment. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm hungover." Annabeth tried not to sound sarcastic—she really did—but it was no use, she ended up sounding sarcastic anyways.

"Jackson. _Percy_ Jackson. I make it a point to meet people like this, it's very refreshing." The man on the couch said.

"My head hurts too much for anything to be funny. So shut up. Coffee?" Annabeth offered, glad to put a name to the (very handsome!) face.

"Yes, _please_." Percy said, sinking back onto the couch. He closed his eyes and Annabeth started brewing a pot.

"So. How much, exactly, do you remember from last night?" Annabeth asked, tentatively. She wondered if she even wanted to _know_ what had happened last night. Percy shrugged his shoulders and said, "I was at a friend's party last night. Last thing I remember was feeling tipsy."

"All of yesterday is just kind of a blur—whether that was from being drunk or just really tired," Annabeth said, pouring the coffee into little paper cups. She gave a cup to Percy, who took a sip and immediately spat it out, cursing. Annabeth looked down at her, now stained, rug. Percy gave her a nervous grin and said, "I'd recommend letting it cool first."

 **PRESENT DAY:**

"And that, kids, his how I met your father." Annabeth said, looking adoringly at her half-naked husband, who stumbled out of their bedroom, hair wild, with a confused expression set upon his handsome face.

 **A/N: This was an AU, obviously, but I think I'll write another non-AU soon. What do you guys think?**

 **xx (and HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!)**

 **StrawberryofLife**


	5. Chapter 5: Love Trumps Laundry

**A/N: This one-shot is sort of non-AU, sort of AU. Some of the little details here and there about Percy & Annabeth, are probably untrue, but let's overlook those little details and focus on the pure sappiness of this one-shot. Or the sappiness I intended to exist in this one-shot. **

**This, once again, is NOT based off a prompt, but rather a cute little drabble I worked on for a few days. I actually do a have a based-off-of-a-prompt one-shot coming soon. I think it's a really cute prompt, but you guys will be the judge of that.**

 **PROMPTS NEEDED!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the future of Annabeth and Percy, but if this truly happens in the future... WOULDN'T THAT BE AWESOME?**

When Annabeth and Percy first moved in together, they had a system. They cooked on weekends—which Annabeth usually did, because Percy could only cook pasta. They ate out on Fridays (usually pizza) and Monday-Thursday they spent their days at Camp Half-Blood. When either of them had had a particularly bad day—death of a fellow demigod, near-death experience, getting lost at the mall etc.—they sat on the couch and watched marathons on Netflix and ate tubs of ice cream. (Percy had discovered he was lactose intolerant after a particularly nasty bout of diarrhea following one of those nights.)

They worked together, seamlessly, as a team. Sometimes they fought—usually over the remote—but mostly they got along, which is great for a healthy relationship.

The only thing they consistently couldn't get right was laundry. Percy _always_ mixed the dark load with the light load and Annabeth _always_ folded the clothes the "wrong" way (according to Percy, who had a strict folding-of-clothes regimen that he'd developed after the whole defeating-Gaea thing). Percy's bad laundry habits turned everything white into varying degrees of pink and Annabeth's bad laundry habits caused everything in the household to be folded twice, which annoyed Annabeth (on both accounts) greatly.

But they were in love. And love trumps laundry. So they continued on with life.

When Annabeth and Percy got married, they had a system. By this time, Annabeth was CEO of an architectural designing company she had created from scratch. She supported the family, while Percy decided to forgo a "normal" job and instead instruct various things (sword fighting and canoeing among them) at Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter alike. They had both mastered the art of making excuses, to get out of boring dinner parties or to avoid the people that most annoyed them—they had nicknamed for them, including Dr. Coconut, Beethoven the dog, and Susan. They made sure to set aside Friday nights at five for date night, which usually included them both dressing up, ending up ordering pizza, and having lots of cuddling sessions on purple couch.

But despite the fact that Annabeth always yelled at him for two minutes straight after discovering another article of clothing had turned pink, Percy still mixed the light load and the dark load. And although Percy had showed Annabeth how to fold the clothes "properly" countless times, Annabeth still folded their clothes the "wrong" way.

But they were in love. And love trumps laundry. So they continued on with life.

When Percy and Annabeth had their first child they had a system. On Mondays and Thursdays Annabeth drove their daughter to daycare. On Tuesdays and Fridays Percy did. (On Wednesdays Poseidon and Athena alternated taking care of their granddaughter, one they had become very fond of, despite the spit-up and poopy diapers.) When the two of them were woken up at midnight by the screams of their eldest, Annabeth took care of her. When the two of them were, later in the night, woken up at four in the morning by screams, Percy took care of her.

And Percy still mixed the darks and lights, now making all of his _daughter's_ clothes various shades of pink, and Annabeth still folded Percy's clothes wrong and, now, by association, her daughter's clothes too.

But they were in love. And love trumps laundry. So they continued on with life.

When Annabeth and Percy's third, and final, child went off to college, they had a system. During the winter & summer holidays their kids came home. During the spring & fall holidays, Percy and Annabeth visited their children. Every other weekend, the two visited their friends—who were scattered, now, both throughout the country and throughout the globe.

But in all the years they'd lived together, Percy still mixed the two loads and Annabeth still folded the clothes wrong.

But they were in love. And love trumps laundry. So they continued on with life.

When Annabeth and Percy were old, grandparents now; their three children off having adventures of their own, they had a system. They were both retired now, so they spent their mornings walking in dew-filled parks, their afternoons at their favourite lunch place, and their evenings exploring places they had never had the time for in their youth.

Still, after almost fifty years of marriage, Percy mixed the darks and the lights and Annabeth folded the clothes wrong.

But they were in love. And love trumps laundry. So they continued on with life.

 **A/N: :) I have this song stuck in my head. Please go away, song. But on a more fanfiction-y note, how did you guys like it? Constructive criticism, generally criticism, and praise wanted and accepted. :D**

 **Once again, prompts wanted. :) Thanks to all my reviewers, favouriters, and followers - you might get tired of hearing this, but it's true: I really DO appreciate you listening to the ramblings of my imagination.**

 **xx**

 **StrawberryofLife**


	6. Chapter 6: Playing with Fire

**A/N: I'd like to make a quick disclaimer before a continue one with the Author's Note. Not the I-don't-own-PJO-so-don't-sue (although I don't, so don't), but a disclaimer that this might be really, really awful. I'm sorry. It was a fabulous prompt given to me by BecauseI'Mageek, and I'm sorry to say that I failed at this prompt. I'm posting this anyway, not because I've polished it, but because before I do another non-prompt I have insisted to myself that I much do a prompt. And, therefore, I am publishing this because I want to give you guys a one-shot. And if I don't, I know I will feel horrible.**

 **So, without further ado, welcome to Playing with Fire**

Chapter 6: Playing with Fire

Dinner parties could be absolutely exhausting.

It wasn't like they actually required much physical effort, or anything. Quite the contrary, in fact. According to science eating dinner gave you more energy. But it seemed like, recently, dinner only drained Percy more.

But tonight was different. The guest was still one of Annabeth's clients and her spouse, but tonight was different. The dinner conversation was funny.

Eva, the client, and her wife, Rose, sat opposite Annabeth and Percy, grinning their heads off. The two had just finished a story about a guy who had somehow not managed to realize that Eva was married (or gay) and had given her thousands of dollars' worth of wine and had only figured out Eva's marital status upon inviting her (and a plus one) on a helicopter ride in Hawaii. The conversation that had ensued had greatly entertained the helicopter pilot, Percy was sure, seeing as the man had assumed there was going to be some three person action going on, only to realize that, in fact, Eva nor Rose had any interest in the man.

"Let me tell you the story of how Percy burnt down the kitchen," Annabeth said, in between bouts of laughter.

Percy reddened immediately and kind of wanted to hide underneath the restaurant's linen clothed table. But, being the super professional (I'm sure you are, Percy) fiancée he was, Percy chose to sit their calmly and try to secretly signal Annabeth not to tell the story.

But as Percy's signals became more frantic and Annabeth only continued to tell an exaggerated story of the time Percy had accidentally lit the kitchen on fire, trying to bake Annabeth a cake, Percy realized that it was hopeless; she was going to tell the story.

"His first mistake, of many, was choosing a vanilla recipe. Then he managed to use normal cooking ingredients to create a combustible cake batter."

That was very true, actually, although honestly, Percy had no idea how he'd managed to screw up a "simple" cake batter recipe so much that it had become combustible. Like—how was that actually possible? He had been putting a lot of the wrong measurements, he knew now—looking back on it, but what exactly had he done to make it _explode_?

"The thing about things that are combustible is, when put in the oven and turned up to 375 degrees, they don't usually fare too well," Annabeth said, giving Percy a look that said you're cute, but very stupid, "So, obviously, Percy put the combustible thing in the oven and then turned it up to 400 hundred degrees—which, as you might have noticed, is hotter than the required temperature."

That was true too. Percy had accidentally put in 400 hundred degrees (he really didn't know how to bake) and just put the cake in the oven. But while Annabeth made Percy sound like an idiot, he hadn't _known_ the cake was combustible. And if he had, there was an 80% chance he wouldn't have put it in the oven. (The other 20% was more of a "I'm Percy Jackson and I saved the world twice, a cake isn't going to effing blow me up".)

"And so, the kitchen exploded. BOOM. Just like that. But it was a very small explosion, actually. So instead of just being a rather life threatening everyday explosion, it had to light the kitchen on fire on _top_ of that. I get home five minutes later to find a partly exploded house and a very confused boyfriend just _standing_ there. Watching the flames burn. Luckily I was able to call 911, although perhaps the neighbours got to the phone before I did and every party involved was okay. But it was very stupid. And he just _stood there_." Annabeth said. She rolled her eyes and the table exploded into laughter, all except Percy who just added a small chuckle.

Most of that was true. The whole explosion had really taken a number to Percy's mental state, hence the frozen-ness, and Annabeth _had_ come home, on her birthday, to a partly exploded house and a very on-fire kitchen. But the fire department had never actually been called (were the neighbours on vacation? Percy didn't know). Instead, Annabeth had whacked him on the head and yelled something along the lines of, "DON'T YOU HAVE MAGICAL PLUMBING POWERS YOU GREAT BIG COMBUSTIBLE _IDIOT_?" And then Percy had remembered that he did, indeed, have magically plumbing powers so he'd used toilet water and sink water and whatever water in the house he could magically control and he'd put out the on-fire kitchen, leaving everything burnt and ashy.

That had been a low point in Percy's life. Despite the whole Tartarus thing, the kitchen exploding had been a low point in Perseus Jackson's life.

 **A/N: Bad? Awful? Just plain annoying? If it is any of those I sincerely apologize. But if you liked it then HOORAY I actually did something productive today. Does sleeping count as being productive? That's the real question here.**

 **I'm still going to continue Coffee Shop Love, because I like writing drabbles and one-shots out of the far reaches of my mind, but I was thinking of doing a ten-ish chapter short story of an AU Percabeth over the holidays.**

 **WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?**

 **xx**

 **StrawberryofLife (officially thirteen!)**


	7. Chapter 7: His name was Percy

**A/N: So I'm not really sure what happened here, but it's something, which is better than nothing - which is precisely what I've been giving you for what?, the past few WEEKS? School started for me last week, so I've been "enjoying" homework and all the great benefits that come along with it, including less time to write or YouTube or anything, really.**

 **Over the summer we had to read A House on Mango Street. I didn't particularly like the writing style, although I understand how many people enjoyed the book - so please no hate. But I've gotten that style sort of in my head, so this is a sort of House on Mango street style one-shot. However, I know a LOT of people don't like the House on Mango Street style of writing, so I wrote a second one-shot (that I will be posting in a minute or so) and it's kind of weird and random and stuff. Also: if you haven't read HoMS, disregard everything I said and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Rick Riordan would be weirded out by this. Therefore, it is not his work - it is mine, a lowly commoner who will never live up to the great standard of RR. I'm so tired. I don't know what I'm doing. ENJOY. NOT MINE - DON'T SUE. Please. :)**

Chapter 7: His name was Percy

His name was Percy.

Her name was Annabeth.

He had black hair. She had blonde.

He liked to swim. And skateboard. And not do homework. She liked to read. And research. And skydive.

He liked coffee. She liked tea.

He was an only child. She had two step-brothers.

His mom was engaged to his High School teacher (how weird was that?). Her dad had remarried a long time ago.

His name was Percy.

Her name was Annabeth.

And one day they met. She was under a great big oak tree, enjoying the shade. Her (albeit slightly tan) complexion didn't do well in the blinding Californian heat. She was reading. One of those all-too-good books that you can't _stop_ reading, for fear of not knowing the ending. It was about a cat. And a mango. And a pair of jeans. But it was really good.

He was hanging with his buddies, on the grass. Feeling the warmth of the sun on his shoulders and back. Joking. Tossing around a football. HEY JASON, a girl yelled. It was Jason's girlfriend. Piper McLean, with a superstar dad and a super cute smile that Jason never shut up about. Her smile is like a thousand sunflowers. Happy. Sunny. Bright. He said. Wouldn't that mean it's yellow too? Percy had once joked. He'd gotten a black eye and a sour look from Jason for the next two weeks. Apparently they were in love. Or something.

There were boys. Fooling around with a football. Tumbling in the grass like it was the first time they'd ever been outside. Annabeth shrunk away from them, focusing on her book. It was good. Maybe her favourite of all time. But Piper would get mad at her for saying that, because Piper was a huge fandom girl. Harry Potter. The Maze Runner.

He walked up to her, because he'd _read_ that book and his friends had dispersed—all to see their girlfriends or late to class or I'm hungry or I need to pee. It was his favourite book. About a cat. And a mango. And some jeans. But it was good, like _really, really_ good.

He smiled at her and Annabeth wasn't sure what to do. Ignore? Chat? Say something funny? What was funny to boys, anyway? Beside fart jokes and immature sex jokes and innuendos and stupid stuff. Hey she said. Hey he said.

And then he said something funny. And she laughed. And she said something funnier _back._ About freaking assassin mermaids. There was an explosion of laughter.

They didn't see each other for two weeks. She'd been avoiding him. She and Piper had done recon and found his twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. She'd laughed when she'd heard he had Facebook. Facebook is for old people, Annabeth said. We are the old people, Piper reminded her, waving her empty wallet in the air and putting her Student ID on top of it. Now she had a crush on him. A godforsaken _crush_ on him. And she didn't even _know_ him.

He'd been seeking her out—trying to find her _somewhere._ Do you know this blonde girl? He asked. But he didn't know her name so that was useless. And then he _saw_ her. Across the room one day while he was eating lunch. HEY! He called out. She turned her head and he could've sworn he saw a blush cross her elegant features.

Go out with me? He asked. Sure. She said.

His mom was married to his high school teacher—say what?! Her dad remarried long ago.

He was an only child. She had two step-brothers.

He liked coffee. She liked tea.

He liked to swim. And skateboard. And not do homework. She liked to read. And research. And skydive.

He had black hair. She had blonde.

His name was Percy.

Her name was Annabeth.

 **A/N: That was neither cute nor fluffy and nor will the next one be. So, you know, apologies. I'll try to work on something cute and Percabeth for you guys, but no promises because then you'll get your hopes up and I'll post a paragraph about logs in, like, 2017 and everyone will hate me.**

 **Sorry about my rambling. GOOD BYE!**

 **P.S. You're fabulous**

 **\- StrawberryofLife -**

 **xoxo**


	8. Chapter 8: Girl Talk

**A/N: I honestly don't know what to say, other than school's tomorrow and I really have to get to sleep. Please enjoy, but a warning that this is neither cute or fluffy - in fact, Percy isn't even in this, it's just a window into the girls' lives, really. I imagine Annabeth facedown on a couch doing nothing because that's what I'd probably do. :P ENJOY!**

 **Disclaimer: Do I really have to do this every single time? I'M NOT RICK RIORDIAN. IF YOU ARE READING THIS RR (which you aren't) firstly you're pretty awesome (but that whole Leo thing was uncalled for :P) and do not sue please I'm just a fan writing fanfiction. So yeah. :)**

Chapter 8: Girl Talk

"I know it's the unrealistic expectation that movies and books and TV shows and Hollywood in generally build up for guys to be this perfect Romeo—minus the death bit, obviously—but I want a _romantic._ One that will take me on picnics sporadically and stuff. Spontaneously is a better word; sporadically makes me think of spores and ugh…"

Piper sat on the couch flipping through a magazine.

"What's wrong with Jason?" Annabeth asked. She was flopped down on the couch, facedown, doing nothing whatsoever. Her voice was muffled.

"Nothing. He's just not particularly _romantic,_ that's all."

"I'll ask Percy to tell him to spontaneously take you on a picnic." Was Annabeth's reply.

"Oh, _that'd_ be great, wouldn't it? Me telling you to tell Percy that Jason needs to be a spontaneous romantic. That's like _me_ telling Jason to be a spontaneous romantic. The spontaneous bit is canceled out when I _tell_ him to be a spontaneous romantic."

"I could tell Percy to specify it didn't come from me."

"That's a good idea. Do that. Make _sure_ he won't tell Jason, though, because that would suck. Suck d—not going there today."

Annabeth's face popped up, suddenly intrigued. She got into cross-legged convince-my-best-friend-to-tell-me-all-her-secrets-position. "Today?" she inquired, "Why _today_? YOU DIDN'T…"

"I hate you," Piper said, turning to face Annabeth, "I really, really hate you. You _had_ to go there. You have a dirty mind. Maybe I should just hang out with Hazel." Annabeth snorted.

"Why so disbelieving? I will call her _right this instant…_ although to be fair Jason's shirt was lost somewhere…and mine too…so you're not that far off." Piper put her phone back down on the floor, and then returned to her magazine, no longer bothered.

"And you decided not to tell me that you got to second base? What a friend _you_ are. Maybe _I_ should go hang out with Hazel instead." Annabeth pouted at her friend.

"Hang out with me? Why?" Hazel asked, coming into the room. Annabeth's face once again emerged from the couch and Piper looked up from her magazine.

"HAZEL!" they both squealed—well not so much squealed as screamed in delight. They jumped up to hug her.

"It's been, like, a week and you haven't texted me _once_ ," Annabeth said, patting the couch next to her.

"I should really do my homework," Piper idled, "Oh and I went to second base with Jason."

" _REALLY_?" Hazel asked, "And you didn't tell us? Like, woah, accomplishment there! Frank and I have only ever kissed twice. It's kind of embarrassing. But cute, too. He's so endearing. He wants to wait to get anywhere until a wedding. And when I heard that I was like, 'WOAH, SLOW DOWN THERE' and he turned all red and was like, 'uh, didn't meant that' and yeah…cute. Frank."

"I should really do some homework," Annabeth idled, "Nah…I'll do homework another time. Homework is boring. And yet I'm doing nothing. The world works in strange ways, huh?"

"In my defense, it isn't like I forgot to tell my friends about _third_ base," Piper said, waving a hand in Annabeth's direction. Annabeth blew a kiss.

"I FORGOT TO TELL YOU GUYS. Percy and I managed to make it all the way home. Last night. In his car. It wasn't all sparks fly, though. _Much_ less sexy than the movies. Plus we were in his car. Which is small."

Piper cursed and Hazel slapped Annabeth's wrist, both with identical looks of astonishment and anger. "YOU DIDN'T FREAKING TELL US?" Piper asked, looking positively annoyed, "And you were the one all 'you forgot to tell us you made out with Jason'."

"It was last night. It's not like I even _saw_ you guys yesterday or anything. Give a girl some space."

It was Piper's turn to snort.

"Let me reiterate: _says the girl who was mad at me for not telling you guys I went to second base._ Shitty friend you are, Annabeth."

 **A/N: I'm tired. Did you like it? Please say you did - but even if you didn't, leave a review. They really make my day. I got a sweet review today and then I just sporadically - nah, spontaneously sounds better ;) and wrote these two thingies. They really DO inspire me and I appreciate every comment even if I don't reply because I'm a horrid person.**

 **Goodbye and goodnight!**

 **xoxo**

 **StrawberryofLife**


	9. Chapter 9: Spinach

**A/N: I know I haven't written in a LOONG time, but I got a sporadic burst of inspiration and wrote this in one sitting. Which means its probably riddled with grammatical errors and very confusing. I'm sorry, but I honestly think it's kind of cute. :D GOOD LUCK WITH ALL THE (hopefully there) FEELS! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I wish I had an intelligent and clever way of expressing this... I'm not Rick Riordan, therefore I don't own any of his characters or anything like that.**

She had almost used his nickname in front of him. On the stairs, leading to the science classroom, which was conveniently super far away from her next class: Drama, which was all the way across campus.

She'd come up with it sporadically, one night, at one in the morning when she should've been sleeping. Her best friend, Piper, and her had been texting about a variety of things, one of which her newly acquired crush on Perseus Jackson, newest student to Goode High.

"We need a nickname for him" she remembered texting. "How about spinach?" And being as tired as she was, Piper had thought it was perfectly genius.

Hazel had laughed when she had told her what Percy's nickname was.

"Spinach?" she cried out, laughing, "Why?"

"I'm not really sure…" Annabeth had said, shaking her head and obliging Hazel's laughter.

It could've been considered a date, but it wasn't. Not really. They had been supposed to meet with a group—Piper, Hazel, Jason, Percy, and her. But Jason had canceled at last minute and Piper, being the supportive girlfriend she was, had been roped into doing whatever it was Jason was doing with him. And Hazel, seeing herself as the "third wheel" had cancelled on purpose, sending Annabeth several winky-face emojis in a row.

She'd been especially giddy that morning, because it was the first time the two of them were going to hang out alone. She'd chosen a cute top and cute shorts, because she was going to look _hella_ cute in front of her crush.

They'd had this whole snapchat conversation previously, both only taking away that they each had a crush and their respective crushes were in the same grade as themselves. She'd been really happy about, making her chances of being _his_ crush, significantly higher, as opposed to the roughly 3.5 billion other females in the world.

She wasn't sure how they'd started talking about it, but here they were, awkwardly talking about crushes. "If you tell me which advisory she's in, I'll tell you mine," she pleaded, trying to persuade him to give away his crush.

He refused this information over and over again. Until _she_ had very quickly blurted out that _her_ crush was on the swim team.

"That's very specific," he'd said, giving her his usual smirk. It was quite annoying, that smirk. She couldn't tell if it was a special little smirk, reserved for her, or if it was just his _smile._ She'd tried to smirk back, but it could've possibly ended up looking like a smushed duck face.

"She's a mathlete," he'd replied, his smirk only growing.

"I'll have you know, for a fact, that Rachel is _not_ a mathlete," Annabeth had tried. Reyna, another one of her friends, had _insisted_ Percy had had a crush on Rachel, and Annabeth had been secretly hopeful that it wasn't true.

"I know," he persisted. They exchanged eye contact and Annabeth felt her insides melt, just a little. _BE STRONG._ She told herself. _GIRL POWER._

 _She_ was on the mathletes. Could it be possible?

O.o

It was like she was _taunting_ him, her grey eyes sparkling. He could _swear_ she saw through his calm façade. I mean, was it really that obvious? His sweaty palms, the way he couldn't keep eye contact without mentally freaking out…

 _He_ was on the swim team. Could it be possible?

O.o

"You know him really well," Annabeth tried, trying to coach an 'I like you' out of Percy.

"Are we friends?" he asked.

"I hope," Annabeth said, quickly, not wanting to give away anything. She immediately regretted her decision, as his smirk made a return.

"I should really just tell you, but I won't," she tried to cover up. _ARGH._ This wasn't working at all. What would Piper say in this situation? But she _wasn't_ uber confident Piper or ever sarcastic Hazel, in the way she had developed after the defeat of Gaea. Perhaps Frank was a really bad influence on her.

O.o

"I think you know who my crush is," she said. The only word that was running through his brain, was a hopeful _me?_

"No, I don't." he said, trying not to get his hopes up.

"You _do_ ," she insisted. _God,_ she was stubborn.

"I _don't._ I've run through every scenario in my head and I know him really well and…"

"It's the one you're thinking of, for Zeus' sake!" He shook his head, refusing to believe.

"Oh f—" she began, but Percy stopped her, grabbing her head and pushing her lips to his.

"Am I right?" he asked, when he backed away. She was grinning, her cheeks slightly pink, "I think you just might be."

 **A/N: Nothing like two sexually frustrated teenagers to get your day started, am I right? This fic is sort of in honor of all the back-to-school crushes we may (or may not!) be getting.**

 **PEACE MY PEOPLES! :D**

 **& Have a Great Fall**

 **StrawberryofLife**


	10. Chapter 10: Halloween

**A/N: Yo! hehheh this isn't awkward at all. It's not like I haven't posted in over a year or something! wait a second...**

 **Seriously, though I'm really sorry I haven't updated in forever. At least these are just lil ficlets and not full-length, complete-with-plot-and-actual-grammar-fics, right? Anyway, I was searching through my documents and I found this lil guy from last Halloween. I didn't do a grammar check on it, although I did come at it with some major shearing tools (because this ficlet was UGLY m'dears) but hopefully it makes sense and everything. I know it's not seasonally relevant, but I meant to post this during Halloween 2015, so it was back then. Oh, well. :( Hopefully I'll get better at updating. Speaking of that- enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: do not own characters (although I'd like to)**

Chapter 10: Halloween

The Haunted Hedge Maze wasn't _that_ scary. Underneath all of the low-budget costumes and makeup and the even worse props, Percy could _tell_ that these were just normal teenagers, pretending to be zombies or haunted dolls just trying to make a couple extra bucks during Halloween season and have some fun.

But nobody else in his group thought so.

The first to bail, surprisingly, had been Jason, even with him "all geared up" for the night with his scary movie marathon. Percy, however, upon seeing Jason's reaction to the "Haunted" Maze (that wasn't really a maze at all), suspected that it had merely been Piper's influence that had convinced Jason to watch any scary movies, let alone marathon them. He left muttering to himself about popcorn and Piper and he _screamed_ at the top of his lungs when a guy with a chainsaw leaped out at him right before he reached the exit.

Frank had _almost_ bailed at the "fire demon" portion of the trail (which was too oddly specific to scare Percy or the rest of the group), but Hazel coaxed Frank into staying. In the end, it was Hazel who'd left, too creeped out by the zombie dentist patients to continue.

The rest of the group stuck together in a big clump. Annabeth and Percy in the lead, Frank clutching Piper's shoulder in a way that looked painful, and Reyna trailing behind the group, looking as unperturbed as Percy felt. They stuck like that until Bozo the evil clown came out, face alight with a malicious grin, a mysterious red substance trailing down his mouth, and eyes that seemed to glow in the night. That was _it_ for Frank, who had been dying to leave since Hazel's exit mere minutes ago.

Piper and Reyna made it another few passes through the maze, but they broke at the living dolls. "They had no souls," Reyna protested when Nico, upon hearing the tale of the Haunted Trail, called her a chicken.

Finally it was just him and Annabeth. In a way, Percy was sort of relieved that it was just the two of them left. Who knew what cute couple moments would spawn out of this horror sequence?

And while his friends had been terrified enough to leave, it was Annabeth that had almost broken their mortal covers in the next room. It had started with soft scuttling noises that gradually gained volume until giant spiders descended from the ceiling. Annabeth _lost_ it. She swung her sword wildly, fake spider web debris trailing her, as she made a mad dash for the exit. But someone had a cruel sense of humor, because just as Annabeth was about to leave the tent, a spider, bigger than the rest descended right in front of the door.

Annabeth didn't even scream. She just froze up and refused to move, even though it clearly looked rubber.

But Percy wasn't about to take any chances, so he scooped her up, pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, and ran as fast as he could.

 **A/N: Liked it? Hated it? Leave some constructive criticism or, better yet, praise, to stroke my ego. (Like I need it.) But seriously, go review! It is greatly appreciated, and honestly all your reviews have made me feel SO guilty this past year for not updating, so just know you finally broke me. This all sounds really bad. What I'm trying to say is that your reviews have really inspired me to get back into fic-writing and they just plain make my day. :D Thank you to everyone who commented/favorited!**

 **ALSO: important! If you would be a dear and leave me a prompt in the reviews, that would be great. My mind has run dry of ideas that make any coherent sense, so leave a prompt and I will get back to you ASAP! I would love to write them, just know I won't do them proper justice. But please, please, please leave a prompt.**

 **xx love ya!**

 **~ StrawberryofLife ~**


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